Georgia school evacuated after pranksters release pepper spray

April 16, 2014|Reuters

ATLANTA (Reuters) - As many as 100 students at a suburban Atlanta high school were exposed to pepper spray on Wednesday after the material was released in a school hallway in an apparent prank, police and school officials said.

Officials at Douglas County High School noticed something was causing teachers and students to cough during a class change Wednesday morning, the school said in a statement.

The substance sprayed in the hall was believed to be pepper spray, and there were no serious injuries, said Douglasville Police Department Major Greg Graff.

It was a "proverbial get-out-of-school-free card," Graff said of the prank.

The building was evacuated and custodians installed fans to clear the air before classes resumed a short time later, according to the school statement.

The students who released the spray were caught and "the school is following board policy to address this issue," the school said.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Eric Walsh)